Thursday

Mar 7, 2019 at 12:01 AM

Fifth in a series:

CORQUIN de COPAN, HONDURAS — Juan Bobo is a pretty popular guy in this school in the Honduran mountains.

A folkloric character from Puerto Rico, Juan Bobo — a boy who never seems to do anything right but always comes through with a lesson at the end — is the subject of endless books in both English and Spanish.

He's certainly captured the imaginations of this school's children, who have gotten library books through the literacy program of the Orrville-based Central American Medical Outreach. The program, which services 13 schools in the Copan district, also has provided textbooks and teacher resource guides.

But it's one set of texts — Spanish, math, social studies and science — per class. It's all CAMO can afford right now, said executive director Kathy Tschiegg. So the teachers make due with photocopies.

It's better than what she had before, said second-grade teacher Sonia Esperanza.

“The year before,” she said through an interpreter, “I didn't have any information to give them. The difference (this year) is tremendous, because I actually have the materials. Before it was just my imagination.”

Esperanza been teaching for 19 years, always at the elementary level.

There are lots of teachers in the region, according to Jorge Lopez, a former mayor of Corquin who now oversees activity at the school. The problem, he said, is there is no money to pay them.

In Honduras, 60 percent of the population is unemployed or underemployed. And while there supposedly are two minimum wages — $389 per month in the private section and $286 per month is the public sector — there are no guarantees.

The national government doesn't give teachers — public employees — any money in this area. Instead, they are paid through the mayor's office, which only can afford $164 per month.

And there is no money for supplies, so teachers buy everything out of their own pockets.

This school has 89 students in nine grades. But there are only four teachers.

Still, Lopez said, the children are doing well with what they have, including the library books, which allow children to read for fun and learn at the same time. Five years ago, before the libraries were stocked, the children in two schools were tested for reading skills. One school got library books first, the other waited a year.

The difference? The children with the library books scored 15 percent better than the children in a school without them, Tschiegg said.

This school was selected as the No. 1 of 25 schools in the region, and Lopez had a lot to do with that success, Tschiegg said. Not only does the school teach the basics, there also are enrichment activities: raising chickens, growing and caring for trees and plants. Food that is raised on the school grounds can be used for student lunches.

When it comes to the national government, Lopez said, it is no help at all. “If any money comes in,” he said, “it's because of the student, the parents or the teachers.” Most everything the school has came from foreign organizations.

There is a mandatory attendance law, he said, but no one enforces it.

Schools are organized into districts, he said, but there's no centralized administration or services.

And none of this, Lopez said, “is going to change in the near future.”

He recounted a recent contest that was led by UNICEF, the countries of Germany and Switzerland and some foreign educational organizations. That group chose 16 Honduran schoolchildren to work together on a book about student-led organizations and how best to run them. Four of the 16 were from this school.

The book the group created advanced the notion that successful student organizations were those where everyone was treated equally and everyone had a say.

When the presented it to the Ministry of Education, it was turned down.

It seems, Lopez said, the politics weren't right.

Still, the students at this school — the model among the 13 the literacy program supports — are doing as well as conditions allow. They are outfitted in uniforms — navy pants or skirts and tailored white shirts — and are polite and respectful. They stand in unison when adults enter the room, offer warm greetings and are happy to show their work.

“We have a program called Building Credibility in Your Life,” Lopez said, which focuses on cleanliness, discipline and reading. As students enter the school, they are told what is expected of them.

Children who act out to get attention are put in charge of special projects, in hopes they will feel important and respond appropriately.

“If a teacher calls a parent, the parent believes the teacher,” he said. “The school is saying you have rights and responsibilities and your responsibility is to conduct yourself in (an appropriate manner).”

And always, the emphasis is on moving on from school and finding work.

“When they leave, not only do they have an education, they've been raised in an environment where they love work,” Lopez said. “Our goal is to get our children to be active and participate in life.”

— Reporter Tami Mosser can be reached at 330-287-1655 or tmosser@the-daily-record.com.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.